A second post on Yves Magloe: UPDATED

I spent some time on the phone yesterday with Rob Capriccioso, a reporter who works for Inside Higher Education. Thanks to Ralph Luker from Cliopatria, Inside Higher Ed had gotten wind of my blog post on Monday about my colleague Yves Magloe. Capriccioso’s story runs in today’s Inside Higher Ed: Mentally Untenured.

As soon as I have an update on the situation, I will share it here on the blog. I can say that I am comfortable with my decision to share publicly of my own battles with mental illness. There is a dreadful myth that those who battle various mental illnesses cannot hold down regular jobs, particularly in a profession such as mine. This myth is persistent; Joel Sax linked to my Monday post and got this anonymous comment from someone who called himself HR Guy:

Iâ€™m with a K-12 school district. Teachers with mental health problems are not just â€œinconvenientâ€, they can be dangerous to themselves and to the students. As a school HR person, we definitely want to get these individuals out of the classroom. Ninety percent of the time, theyâ€™re not good teachers anyway.

Well, I suppose a paranoid schizophrenic in a full-blown episode could present a potential danger. But the vast majority of those of us who deal with things like bipolar and unipolar depression, serious personality disorders, and so forth are capable — with professional help — of functioning effectively and safely. And of course, I take umbrage at the suggestion that 90% of the time, those of us who have a history of mental illness make lousy teachers! No, I’m not "fishing for compliments". I’m quite confident in my abilities, thanks, and I am grateful to God and to this institution that I am allowed daily to do something I love and at which I believe I am pretty damn good.

I’m sadly certain that the attitude of that anonymous HR guy on Joel’s blog isn’t all that different from the attitude of those who chose to terminate Yves Magloe.

I’d also like to point out a couple of key differences between myself and Yves. Yves is, according to the accounts of mutual acquaintances, a shy man. I’m an ENFP. Yves is a native of West Africa, and at the time that he fell ill, had no family in the United States. I’m a sixth-generation Californian with a large extended family. Each time that I fell ill, dozens of family members and friends rallied to my side. Even at the darkest moment of my struggles, I had zealous advocates standing with me, running interference for me, and making sure that I got the best possible care. Yves — whose temperament is more withdrawn and whose background less well connected — did not have access to those resources.

And I am still teaching, with tenure — and Yves is fighting to get his job back, as well as to get this institution to recognize the real nature of mental illness. He is in my prayers, and I ask all of you who can do so to continue to contact those in power here at the college on his behalf.

You can email the college president, James Kossler, here.

You can email the head of human resources, Jorge Aguiniga, here.

Contact the board of trustees by going here.

UPDATE: The Board of Trustees declined last night to consider rehiring Yves. I assume the next step is litigation. I’m also told that mental illness will be a topic for general discussion at the next board meeting on June 21.

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